A Non-tender Look at Bestball and Avoiding Landmines

Back to quell all of your doubts! Fantasy baseball talk for your Sunday morning... *Driveline founder and former Magic: The Gathering opponent of our boy Tony, Kyle Boddy joins the Red Sox front office. *Angels and Astros bolster their bullpens...Hader's going to close, is it StephenSZN? *Plenty of player spotlights inspired by DMs, pods, Consortium chat, and X interactions: Tyler Glasnow, Tanner Bibee, Cristopher Sanchez, Yu Darvish, Gunnar Henderson, Giancarlo Stanton, Nico Hoerner, Darell Hernaiz *Etymology of Baseball ****************************************** Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and they share with listeners their strategies and experiences of competing in the highest levels of fantasy baseball. Listen to the guys who have done it before to learn how to win your leagues! Please take a few moments to rate and review the podcast on your platform of choice; we really want your feedback. Thank you so much to those of you all-stars who have done so already! Check out ⁠⁠RotoSaurus.com/merch⁠⁠ to support the pod! Follow Dave (⁠⁠@RunDMcD⁠⁠) and Jake (⁠⁠@TheDustmite⁠⁠) on Xwitter; be sure to send them your barbs and accolades. Logo Designs - the great Matt Krysiak (⁠⁠www.coroflot.com/krysiart⁠⁠) Show Tune - The 126ers - ⁠⁠Black Moons --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/support

We heard you missed us; we're back! Don't act like you didn't... *First, the boys talk lessons learned in 2023 and what that means they are changing in the new draft season, covering: Closer strategies Being boring Don't set the mins Less dumpster-diving on catchers Jake's WHIP problems Dave is OK with injury risks?!?! Still gotta have speed *It's the "He Went to Driveline" crew; does it mean anything? Sean Manaea JP Crawford Joe Ryan Ty France Paul Goldschmidt Henry Davis Shane Bieber Cole Ragans Zack Thompson and many more *Why are the Mariners pushing splitters on seemingly all of their starters? *Dave's foolhardy wagers in the weekly Fish Call *The Debut of Jake's Etymology of Baseball *The GLARF Dynasty and this year's EARTH Leagues charity Thanks for coming back to us! Let's get it in 2024!! ****************************************** Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and they share with listeners their strategies and experiences of competing in the highest levels of fantasy baseball. Listen to the guys who have done it before to learn how to win your leagues! Please take a few moments to rate and review the podcast on your platform of choice; we really want your feedback. Thank you so much to those of you all-stars who have done so already! Check out ⁠RotoSaurus.com/merch⁠ to support the pod! Follow Dave (⁠@RunDMcD⁠) and Jake (⁠@TheDustmite⁠) on Xwitter; be sure to send them your barbs and accolades. Logo Designs - the great Matt Krysiak (⁠www.coroflot.com/krysiart⁠) Show Tune - The 126ers - ⁠Black Moons --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/support

We welcome the @deadpullhitter Rob DiPietro for a long-awaited appearance on High Stakes Heat!  Rob goes deep about where he got his love of fantasy, how he's grown into a high stakes sniper, and a lot of his overarching draft prep process.  We also learn a lot about Rob as a person with some deep topics of interest at the end.  Strap in! *Rob's origins with his family and Strat-O-Matic *Basketball before baseball?? *What led to the Draft Champions overall title in 2020 *Following that success up with a massive 2021 *Tag team partners with Jenny Butler *Where should we draft saves? *EARTH leagues conversation *Does Rob subscribe to the Player Eliminator practice? *How does Rob use and aggregate projection systems? *SGP and how to use it *Rob as "The Sponge," soaking up all the info he can *Lessons learned from 2021 *Rob's biggest weakness and edge as a fantasy player *Build your own "supergroup" for success AND FOR FUN *Music of the 90s, and how we are affected by it to this day *Rob's colloquialisms *Victory Garden with the DeadPullHitter *IS ROB DR. DAVE?? ****************************************** Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and they share with listeners their strategies and experiences of competing in the highest levels of fantasy baseball.  Listen to the guys who have done it before to learn how to win your leagues!  Please take a few moments to rate and review the podcast on your platform of choice; we really want your feedback.  Thank you so much to those of you all-stars who have done so already! Check out RotoSaurus.com/merch to support the pod! Follow Dave (@RunDMcD) and Jake (@TheDustmite) on Twitter; be sure to send them your barbs and accolades. Logo Designs - the great Matt Krysiak (www.coroflot.com/krysiart) Show Tune - The 126ers - Black Moons --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/support

Dave and Jake recently finished their Battle of the Podcasts league draft, presented by Zack Waxman and hosted by the NFBC.  This pod is a full review of the league, looking at each team in depth (including their own) and offering strengths, weaknesses, perceived strategy, best/worst picks, and their selections to compete for the title.  The draft order and represented pods for this 50 round NFBC draft & hold format league is: *1 Justin Mason, Friends with Fantasy Benefits *2 John Laghezza, Corked Stats *3 Matt Williams, Turn Two *4 Jake and Dave *5 Chris M, @baseballpods *6 Zack Waxman, Draft Champions Network *7 Eric Cross/Chris Clegg, Fantrax Toolshed *8 Rob DePietro, Pull Hitter (Season 2 champ) *9 Matthew Davis, FTN Fantasy Baseball *10 Drew Morris, Common Sense Fantasy Baseball (Season 1 champ) *11 Michael Simione, SP Streamer *12 Bubba Entrekin, Benched with Bubba *13 Toby Guevin, BatFlipCrazy *14 Jorge Montanez/Mike Kurland, Bases Loaded *15 Michael Govier, Hey It's Enrico Pallazzo! *We discuss Jake's recent exercise of separating the top 150 ADP players (over the last three weeks) into three different categories: players he'd draft at or before ADP, players he'd consider in certain situations with a discount, and players he is crossing off his list.  He tweeted about it here on Saturday.  There were surprising results, even though we've been crossing players off our draftlists for well over a decade. *We also go over our TGFBI leagues, 4 and 5 ****************************************** Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and they share with listeners their strategies and experiences of competing in the highest levels of fantasy baseball.  Listen to the guys who have done it before to learn how to win your leagues!  Please take a few moments to rate and review the podcast on your platform of choice; we really want your feedback.  Thank you so much to those of you all-stars who have done so already! Check out RotoSaurus.com/merch to support the pod! Follow Dave (@RunDMcD) and Jake (@TheDustmite) on Twitter; be sure to send them your barbs and accolades. Logo Designs - the great Matt Krysiak (www.coroflot.com/krysiart) Show Tune - The 126ers - Black Moons --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/support

The Vegas crew of Dave, Tony, and Jake are very excited to bring on the do-it-all of the National Fantasy Championship contests, Darik Buchar @dbuchar).  We had a ton of fun and laughs talking shop with Darik about all things NFBC (@TheNFBC)and everything their live events can be! *A viking among cheeseheads; a kicker AND a catcher *Darik's history as an NFBC player, and how he moved to the other side of the game *A couple of hot takes *Who is the best high stakes player?  Who will win the Main Event in 2022? *Tons about the live events in Vegas/NYC/Chicago, and why you'll never want to draft any other way *NFBC is the gold standard of contests *Storytime: a broken hair dryer, Dave oversleeps a main event, the half-eaten cookie, "draft" beers, and the infamous Bellinger autodraft *Darik's early beef with Mark Srebro (Gekko) *His unique perspective on how our seasonal game is changing *Don't just copy someone else; find what works for you on your own! ****************************************** Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and they share with listeners their strategies and experiences of competing in the highest levels of fantasy baseball.  Listen to the guys who have done it before to learn how to win your leagues!  Please take a few moments to rate and review the podcast on your platform of choice; we really want your feedback.  Thank you so much to those of you all-stars who have done so already! Check out RotoSaurus.com/merch to support the pod! Follow Dave (@RunDMcD) and Jake (@TheDustmite) on Twitter; be sure to send them your barbs and accolades. Logo Designs - the great Matt Krysiak (www.coroflot.com/krysiart) Show Tune - The 126ers - Black Moons --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/support

Jason Duponte @papelbeast joins the guys to give the perspective of a long-time NFBC player with tons of experience at the highest of stakes!  Quite a bit of extremely useful strategy in this one! *Jumping right into the deep end for $5000 *Cue the Duckboats, better than going to Disney World *Stories of the Red Sox beating Cleveland in the 2007 ALCS, much to our delight *More on why the Guardians' ownership can suck it *Mike the Mouth NYC Ultimate leagues: like a home league, only more expensive *The challenges of playing at the $15000 price point in the NFBC Platinum *Why auctions are the best thing in fantasy baseball *Shifting focuses and contest selection *Who is the best player in the high stakes world? *Jason's biggest strength and weakness *More on how the seasonal fantasy baseball game is changing...adapt or die! *Are we in or out on players going within the ADP Top 50   -Fernando Tatis, Jr   -Ronald Acuna, Jr   -Mookie Betts   -Mike Trout   -Nick Pivetta > Jacob deGrom??   -Shane Bieber   -Cedric Mullins   -Whit Merrifield   -Robbie Ray   -Tyler O'Neill   -Chris Sale ****************************************** Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and they share with listeners their strategies and experiences of competing in the highest levels of fantasy baseball.  Listen to the guys who have done it before to learn how to win your leagues!  Please take a few moments to rate and review the podcast on your platform of choice; we really want your feedback.  Thank you so much to those of you all-stars who have done so already! Check out RotoSaurus.com/merch to support the pod! Follow Dave (@RunDMcD) and Jake (@TheDustmite) on Twitter; be sure to send them your barbs and accolades. Logo Designs - the great Matt Krysiak (www.coroflot.com/krysiart) Show Tune - The 126ers - Black Moons --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/support

The boys flip the calendar to 2022 by bringing in one of the best players in the NFBC right now, and he has the hardware to prove it!  2020 Main Event overall champion Jim Tomony joins the show to explain just what goes into being a consistent winner at the highest level of fantasy baseball. *Jim's start in fantasy, and how he married the Fantasy Baseball Queen of Ann Arbor *What spurred his big win in 2020? *Why does he use song titles to name all of his squads? *12 team or 15 team leagues? *Jim's biggest weakness and strength as a player *How is the high stakes realm changing over the last few years? *The gentlemen give one player to hit and one player to bust from four different ADP ranges! ----> 1-100: Sal Perez, Alex Bregman, Jose Abreu, Francisco Lindor, Mookie Betts, Trevor Rogers ----> 101-200: Rhys Hoskins, Eduardo Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi, Chris Taylor, Carlos Rodon, Justin Verlander ----> 201-300: Alex Wood, Jesus Sanchez, Gavin Lux, Bailey Ober, Nathaniel Lowe, Andrew Kittredge ----> 301-450: Luis Arraez, Rowdy Tellez, Carlos Carrasco, Kyle Lewis, Cristian Javier, Tylor Megill ****************************************** Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and they share with listeners their strategies and experiences of competing in the highest levels of fantasy baseball.  Listen to the guys who have done it before to learn how to win your leagues!  Please take a few moments to rate and review the podcast on your platform of choice; we really want your feedback.  Thank you so much to those of you all-stars who have done so already! Check out RotoSaurus.com/merch to support the pod! Follow Dave (@RunDMcD) and Jake (@TheDustmite) on Twitter; be sure to send them your barbs and accolades. Logo Designs - the great Matt Krysiak (www.coroflot.com/krysiart) Show Tune - The 126ers - Black Moons --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/support

Dave and Jake dive into ADP for the last three weeks of NFBC Draft Champions leagues, giving you some players they think you should move up or down your draft boards.     *Going too early: Kopech, Semien, Witt Jr., Franco, Gallegos, Chisholm, C Seager     *Going too late: Torres, Bogaerts, Lindor, Story, Snell, Kimbrel, Rogers Jake is taking part in his first NFBC DC, which also happens to be the "Beat Razzball's Grey Albright" league.     *Jake runs through his strategy going in from pick 12, and how it ended up playing out     *Analysis of the roster construction of each team, highlighting items to keep in mind when you're drafting     *They feel that lots of teams have no shot at this league; lots of incomplete teams in this one ****************************************** Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and they share with listeners their strategies and experiences of competing in the highest levels of fantasy baseball.  Listen to the guys who have done it before to learn how to win your leagues!  Please take a few moments to rate and review the podcast on your platform of choice; we really want your feedback.  Thank you so much to those of you all-stars who have done so already! Check out RotoSaurus.com/merch to support the pod! Follow Dave (@RunDMcD) and Jake (@TheDustmite) on Twitter; be sure to send them your barbs and accolades. Logo Designs - the great Matt Krysiak (www.coroflot.com/krysiart) Show Tune - The 126ers - Black Moons --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/support

The commissioner has locked out the players because he "had to," but that won't stop us from commenting on the absolute flurry of activity in MLB leading up to this dreadful day.  Jake and Dave discuss the fantasy implication of tons of moves, and also laugh heartily at the teams that deserve it (we're looking at you, Guardians). *Astros resign Justin Verlander, 2y/$50mil *Cubs sign Marcus Stroman, 3y/$71mil *Dodgers resign Chris Taylor, 4y/$60mil *Max Muncy's injured elbow *Twins resign Byron Buxton, 7y/$100mil *Cards sign Steven Matz, 4y/$44mil *Orioles sign Jordan Lyles, 1y/$7mil *DBacks sign Mark Melancon, 2y/$14mil *Phillies sign Corey Knebel, 1y/$10mil *Padres sign Robert Suarez, 1y; Nick Martinez, 4y/$20mil *Rays sign Corey Kluber, 1y/$8mil; extend Wander Franco, 11y/$182mil *Marlins acquire Joey Wendle; extend Sandy Alcantara, 5y/$56mil; sign Avisail Garcia, 4y/$53mil *Mariners sign Robbie Ray, 5y/$115mil; acquire Adam Frazier *Jays resign Jose Berrios, 7y/$131mil; sign Kevin Gausman, 5y/$110mil *Would you rather draft deGrom or Gausman? *Red Sox sign Rich Hill, 1y/$5mil; sign Michael Wacha, 1y/$7mil; sign James Paxton, 1y/$10mil w option *Brewers acquire Hunter Renfroe from Red Sox for Jackie Bradley, Jr. *Angels resign Raisel Iglesias, 4y/$100mil; sign Noah Syndergaard, 1y/$21mil; Michael Lorenzen, 1y/$7mil *Giants resign Anthony DeSclafani, 3y/$36mil; resign Alex Wood, 2y/$25mil; sign Alex Cobb, 2y/$20mil *Tigers sign Javier Baez, 6y/$140mil; sign Eduardo Rodriguez, 5y/$77mil *Rangers sign Corey Seager, 10y/$325mil; sign Marcus Semien, 7y/$175mil; sign Jon Gray, 4y/$56mil; sign Kole Calhoun, 1y/$5.2mil *Mets sign Eduardo Escobar, 2y/$20mil; sign Mark Canha, 2y/$25.5mil; sign Starling Marte, 4y/$78mil; sign Max Scherzer, 3y/$130mil *Marcell Ozuna's suspension is over, where should you draft him? *Our slow drafting plans *Should you have a strategy for drafting from every single draft slot?  NFBC vs lower stakes ****************************************** Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and they share with listeners their strategies and experiences of competing in the highest levels of fantasy baseball.  Listen to the guys who have done it before to learn how to win your leagues!  Please take a few moments to rate and review the podcast on your platform of choice; we really want your feedback.  Thank you so much to those of you all-stars who have done so already! Check out RotoSaurus.com/merch to support the pod! Follow Dave (@RunDMcD) and Jake (@TheDustmite) on Twitter; be sure to send them your barbs and accolades. Logo Designs - the great Matt Krysiak (www.coroflot.com/krysiart) Show Tune - The 126ers - Black Moons --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/support

The illustrious SPStreamer Michael Simione (@SPStreamer) lends his talents to High Stakes Heat tonight as he walks the boys through his growth both as a player and as an analysis brand.  *The FPAZ experience: people, panels, and poker *A look at the FPAZ draft from mid-October with many fantasy analyst participants *Michael's journey to high stakes *Learning from 2021 and moving forward to 2022 *The TURF League, members of EARTH *Does a league have to have an entry fee to be a priority for all? *The method of the Stream *Michael's 2021 record for streaming *Early overvalued/undervalued starters Make sure to check out Michael and the crew over at SPStreamer.com! ****************************************** Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and they share with listeners their strategies and experiences of competing in the highest levels of fantasy baseball.  Listen to the guys who have done it before to learn how to win your leagues!  Please take a few moments to rate and review the podcast on your platform of choice; we really want your feedback.  Thank you so much to those of you all-stars who have done so already! Check out RotoSaurus.com/merch to support the pod! Follow Dave (@RunDMcD) and Jake (@TheDustmite) on Twitter; be sure to send them your barbs and accolades. Logo Designs - the great Matt Krysiak (www.coroflot.com/krysiart) Show Tune - The 126ers - Black Moons --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/support